Random packs

Here's an exercise for those curious about how these drafts might go. I've pulled 3 different sets of 15 cards from the boxes. You'll notice right away that the collections are very odd. For instance, I didn't happen to pull any blue cards in the first or third packs.

What would you pick first from these packs? (You can click the images to see larger versions on Flicker.)

Pack #1

For me, I think the Royal Assassin and Disintegrate would be at the top of my picks. The Assassin is great in limited, but the burn spell will end a match. 

Yes, that's Double Play from Unglued in there as well. Silver border un-rules apply, so the "Double" spells will be pretty useful during the day. 

Pack #2

Pack #3

The big draft box

We'll be drafting using the "Big Box." The Big Box is a variant on the "Cube," which is a collection of just the most powerful cards ever created. Cube drafting is very popular among Magic players. The Big Box actually contains one of every Magic card ever created. Mine isn't quite complete, but it's pretty close. Here, take a look:

That's the box, with 4 rows almost completely filled up. Oh, wait, that's not all.

There's 2 boxes. One of the rows is empty so that there will be room to expand into later. For reference, there are 11 tournament pack boxes in that empty row, taking up about as much room as the cards in the other rows. On the far left side, there are two fat pack boxes. But we're still not done.

Finally, this is all of the cards. The row on the right side contains basic lands and tokens (as well as tips and tricks cards and pro tour player cards) for use during play. This is 10 almost-full rows of cards. I'd estimate that it contains somewhere between 9 and 10 thousand different cards. So what's actually included? One of every unique non-foil card printed in the following groups:

• Every core set from Revised (3rd edition) through 10th edition... except the dual lands from Revised.
• Every expansion, large and small, from The Dark through Eventide.
• All of Shards of Alara, except for 9 cards. Six of them are the new Mythic rarity, and two of them are planeswalkers NOT named Ajani. Thanks, WotC.
• The un-sets, Unglued and Unhinged. Because they're too much fun to leave out.

In addition, there are numerous other cards from the Alpha/Beta/Unlimited set, as well as Arabian Nights, Antiquities, and Legends, but not complete sets. If any of the cards were reprinted in later sets (Desert, for example), then those copies have been added. There is only one copy of any given card, no matter how many times it was printed, so there's only one copy of Stone Rain, even though it was printed in a dozen or more sets.

What won't be included?

• Cards from Portal or Starter sets that were not printed in other sets.
• Foil only cards. (Super Secret Tech, Fruitcake Elemental)
• The big power cards from the original set.

Tomorrow, I'll include a few sample "packs" of 15 cards pulled from the box to show what kind of card pool you can end up working with.